Grrrl’s Night draws lively audience.
If there is one word to describe Thunder & Lightning’s “Grrrl’s Night,” it would be “power.” The event featured three bands that shared some common features: female vocalists, boundless energy, and powerful performances that left the audience wanting more.
With their punk rock and metal sounds, all of the evening’s female-dominated groups were loud, bold, and empowered. The show’s name says it all; like a wild animal on the hunt, each performance was fiercer than the one before.
What really made the show special was how these women completely dominated the space and embodied what the music represents. Their stage presence was phenomenal and helped demonstrate the feelings of anger and boldness which their songs invoked.
Shag Harbour was the first band to perform, and their lighter rock sound was refreshing and enjoyable. Of the three girls, two of them sang together and created rich harmonies on stage. The group was consistent throughout the performance; each song was as fast and catchy as the one before, and they maintained a pleasantly sassy attitude that kept the crowd entertained. They dropped profanities casually and with smiles on their faces, creating a cool juxtaposition between sweetness and boldness.
After a quick intermission, Cheap Wig took a completely different spin on this attitude, which would prove to be a theme throughout the evening. On a technical level, the group was talented. What really made Cheap Wig stand out, though, was their stage presence. The vocalist, while using some powerful screaming techniques, boldly jumped into the crowd and performed directly to particular audience members.
Ursula was the last band to perform, and they had a level of stage presence and energy that was parallel to Cheap Wig; their music, however, was slightly lighter and included some moments of singing rather than screaming. Occasionally, the songs slowed down for a moment and the singer would give a more relaxed, heartfelt performance. But these moments didn’t last long, as the band would continually bring up the energy of their songs by several notches, jumping and dancing around once again.
Overall, when it came to all three of these bands, the music was really good. The lyrics, though sometimes hard to hear over other instruments, spoke unapologetically of love and sex, among other things. The beat was fast but steady, and their strong guitar riffs added an element of intensity to the performances.
The bands’ impulsive, in-your-face attitudes had the crowd going wild. The energy of thousands of people at a larger concert was condensed into a group of about fifty, and the result was incredible to experience.